laurieopal

I just finished getting 12 rings ready for casting, I was putting the sprues on them. These are the wax attachments that lead the metal to the designs after the wax is melted out. This is definitely not my favorite part, but they are finished and it's getting late.

I was looking a the raven photos in my last entry. They're really not good enough. The way my work is detailed has always been hard to photograph and I think I need to work some more on it.

Hematite Pendant

Glad you're all loving the pieces. Best to your parents. The hematitie is botryoidal. I'm not surprised you couldn't read my handwriting. It's bad on my best days and worse at shows. This is the wikapedia quote.

"A botryoidal texture or mineral habit is one in which the mineral has a globular external form resembling a bunch of grapes as derived from the Greek. This is a common form for many minerals particularly hematite where it is the classically recognized shape. It is also a common form of goethite and malachite. This includes chrysocolla." There's also botryoidal jade from the northern California coast.